Microsoft 365 vs. Office 2021: what's the difference?

Microsoft 365 is a subscription that gives you access to the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office apps on up to five devices. Office 2021 is a single license of Office for a PC or Mac. Microsoft 365 also offers additional features, like 1TB of OneDrive storage and access to Microsoft Editor. You can also get a Microsoft 365 Family plan for up to six people.

You can buy Microsoft Office in two ways: you can buy a Microsoft 365 software subscription or buy Office 2021 for Windows or Mac. (Microsoft 365 was formerly known as "Office 365".) Here's the difference.

Microsoft 365 versus Office 2021

Here's the main difference: Office 2021 is the traditional Microsoft Office product, sold for a one-time upfront fee. You pay once to buy a version of Office 2021 that you can install on a single PC or Mac and use for as long as you want. There is no expiration date.

Microsoft 365, on the other hand, is how Microsoft wants most people to buy Office. Rather than paying a hefty upfront price, you pay a monthly or annual fee and get access to the latest version of Office for as long as you pay the fee.

The Microsoft 365 subscription also includes additional features, such as 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage, as well as access to Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iPhone, Android and iPad.

You can choose a Microsoft 365 subscription that works for one person or can be shared with a family of up to six people. Each person with access to Office apps can install them on up to five devices. So while a purchase of Office 2021 gives you access to Office on one device, a Microsoft 365 Family subscription gives you access to Office on up to 30 devices.

Office 2021: a traditional software product

Microsoft Office 2021 is the "traditional" version of the Office software product. You can think of this as a "boxed copy" of Office, although you can also buy it online digitally.

Microsoft sells "Office Home & Student 2021" for home users, and there's also a more expensive "Office Home & Business 2021" edition for business users. The Home & Student Edition costs $149,99, while the Home & Business Edition costs $249,99. (You can, however, buy Office 2021 cheaper on Amazon.)

After paying the initial fee, you get an Office 2021 license. You don't even get a physical disc with Office 2021. Instead, you either buy a physical "key card" with a download code on it, or you are purchasing a digital download that is emailed to you.

Office Home and Student 2021 includes access to 2021 editions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It supports Windows 11, Windows 10 and macOS. The Home & Student edition doesn't include Microsoft Outlook – you'll need the more expensive Professional edition for that. Microsoft also states that the Home & Student Edition is not intended for commercial use.

You can download and use Office 2021 for as long as you want. You own it. You will never have to pay for anything else. However, when Microsoft releases a new version of Office, you will have to pay to buy the new version of Office or be stuck with Office 2021 until you pay again.

However, it will not receive updates forever. Microsoft announces that it will stop providing security updates for Office 2021 on October 13, 2026.

You can only install Office 2021 on one Windows PC or Mac at a time. You can deactivate it and move it to another PC, but you will need to buy another license key if you want to install it on two computers at once.

Microsoft 365 Personal: one subscription for one person

Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office 365, is Microsoft's modern way to sell and distribute Office. Microsoft 365 Personal is a subscription plan designed for someone who needs Microsoft Office on up to five different devices.

Microsoft 365 lets you download the latest version of Office anytime. The version of Microsoft Office available through Microsoft 365 is newer than what you get through Office 2021. Microsoft usually adds new features for 365 subscribers, but not for boxed copy purchasers. For example, you might expect Cop featuresilot AI from Microsoft Office requires Microsoft 365 and does not work with Office 2021.

You can either subscribe through your Microsoft account with a credit card, or buy it elsewhere, like Amazon. Microsoft charges $69,99 per year if you pay annually or $6,99 per month if you pay monthly. You can sometimes find a cheaper Microsoft 365 subscription on Amazon. (You can also get a one-month free trial of Microsoft 365 to try it out first.)

The Microsoft 365 package includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, like Office 2021 Home and Student. However, it also includes 1TB of cloud storage in OneDrive, Microsoft Outlook email client, and Microsoft Editor (to find grammatical errors in your writing), plus premium features in Microsoft's Clipchamp video editor. You have access to these apps on up to five devices, which can be a mix of Windows 10 PCs, Windows 11 PCs, Macs, Android phones, iPhones, or iPads. You'll also get the classic Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Access apps for Windows PCs. Check Microsoft's comparison website for a complete and up-to-date list of Microsoft 365 features that Office 2021 doesn't have.

You can only download and use Word, Excel, and other Office apps through Microsoft 365 if your subscription is current. If you stop paying for the subscription, you lose access to your Office apps until you start paying again.

You don't need to be connected to the internet to use these apps. However, you must regularly connect to the Internet: after 31 days offline, Office applications installed via Microsoft 365 will go into "reduced functionality" mode. You will be able to view and print documents, but you will not be able to modify them or create new ones until you reconnect to the Internet and activate it again.

Microsoft 365 Home: one subscription for up to six people

Microsoft 365 Home, formerly known as Office 365 Home, is a Microsoft Office subscription for families of up to six people.

This subscription includes everything Microsoft 365 does for one person, but you can share it with up to six people in total who have their own Microsoft accounts. It costs $99,99 per year if you pay annually or $9,99 per month if you pay monthly. You can also buy it on Amazon, where it is sometimes cheaper than on Microsoft's site. Microsoft offers a one-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Family so you can try it out.

At this price, Microsoft 365 Home is a better deal than Microsoft 365 Personal, even if you only have two people who can share the subscription.

All subscribers have full access to everything: their five Office apps (for a total of 30 apps across six Microsoft accounts), their own 1TB of OneDrive storage (for a total of 6TB of storage), and more. You also get additional features designed for families, such as Microsoft Family Safety, a suite of parental control-like features that Microsoft says provides "digital content filtering, screen time limits, and screen sharing." position ".

Microsoft 365 vs. Office 2021: Which should you buy?

In the long term, Microsoft clearly wants to eliminate one-time purchase versions of Office and move entirely to subscriptions. Microsoft adjusted the numbers to make an Office 365 subscription look like a better deal for most people. Microsoft 365 is just good business.

For example, to get Office on a single PC or Mac for two years, you'll need to pay $150 for Office 2021 or $140 for Microsoft 365 Home. After two years, you'll save money if you stick with Office 2021, but if you need to upgrade to a new version of Office in a few years, you'll be worse off. (Remember that Office 2021 will stop receiving security updates on October 13, 2026, after which you'll want to upgrade just for security reasons, and upgrading will cost you.)

In the meantime, you'll also get 1TB of OneDrive storage, Microsoft Editor, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and the ability to install Office on up to five devices at once.

If you only need one copy of Office on a single Windows 10, Windows 11, or Mac PC, buying a new version of Office as soon as it's released can be a good deal. Office 2021 debuted on October 5, 2021, which means it will get five years of security updates. If you bought it when it comes out in 2021, it would cost you $30 a year in total before losing security updates. Not bad.

But if you need more than one copy of Office, Microsoft 365 is a much better deal. Even a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription for $70 a year gives you access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office apps on up to five devices. To replace that, you'll need to spend $750 for five copies of Office 2021 Home & Student.

If you're interested, try this one-month free trial and see if it works for you.

Office Online: a free web version of Office

Although we're focusing here on the desktop versions of Office for Windows PCs and Macs, Microsoft also offers Office Online. This is a completely free web-based version of Office. If you're happy with using Microsoft Office through a web browser, you can use the web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for free. All you need is a Microsoft 365 account.

They're stripped down Office apps and don't have all the functionality you'd get in office apps – you can't even use them offline, for example – but they're surprisingly good. They also have excellent compatibility with Office document formats. They can be a good option if you don't need Office often or just need some basic functionality.

Microsoft also offers free desktop and mobile versions of its OneNote note-taking tool. You don't need to pay Office to get OneNote.

Free alternatives to Microsoft Office

Of course, you don't need to spend money on an office suite. You don't even need to spend money on Microsoft Office, since you can use Office Online for free in your browser. Other popular free office suites include:

• Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers and Keynote): Apple's office apps are free on Mac, iPhone and iPad. You can also access your iWork documents through the iCloud website in a web browser on Windows PCs and other devices.
• Google Docs: Google's web-based office suite is free to anyone with a Google account. You can use it in a browser on a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook, or use the Google Docs apps on Android, iPhone, or iPad. Although it is web-based, you can enable offline support for Google Docs.
• LibreOffice: A free and open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, you can download a desktop version of LibreOffice for Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs. It is a traditional local, offline desktop application that runs on your computer.

If you regularly use Microsoft Office, it's well worth the price of a Microsoft 365 subscription to access the latest features and have apps for all the PCs, Macs and other devices you use. But that boxed copy is still available, and you have plenty of alternative office suites to try, too.